By Sean M. Pond | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
We are divided because politics has taught us to see our neighbors as enemies.
Every election, we’re told the same thing.
If the left wins, America is finished.
If the right wins, democracy is over.
Both sides are convinced the next election will determine whether the country survives. The votes are counted, everyone catches their breath for a few weeks, and then the next campaign begins. The temperature goes right back up.
After traveling Colorado, running for statewide office, serving as a county commissioner and talking with thousands of people from every walk of life, I’ve come to a different conclusion.
America isn’t falling apart because we disagree.
We’ve always disagreed.
The Founders disagreed. Newspapers were vicious. Elections became deeply personal. Americans have argued about the proper role of government since the beginning of the republic.
Disagreement has never been our greatest threat.
The real danger begins when we stop seeing one another as neighbors and start seeing one another as enemies.
Once that happens, every disagreement feels like an attack instead of a conversation. That’s a dangerous place for any constitutional republic.
When politics becomes personal
Political scientists call what’s happening “affective polarization.” It’s a complicated term for a simple idea.
Politics isn’t just about public policy anymore. It’s become personal.
It used to be, “I think you’re wrong.”
Now it’s, “I don’t trust people like you.”
Eventually it becomes, “People like you don’t love this country.”
That’s when politics stops being a contest of ideas and starts becoming a battle between identities.
Part of the problem is the way our political system is organized. Millions of Americans with different beliefs end up wearing the same political jersey. Constitutional conservatives, libertarians, ranchers, business owners and traditional Republicans may all vote for the same candidate while disagreeing on dozens of issues. The same is true on the left.
Yet we increasingly judge one another by party labels instead of individual character.
Politics has also become shorthand for nearly everything else. People assume your vote reveals where you live, whether you attend church, how you feel about guns, law enforcement, energy, education and countless other issues.
Before long, we aren’t debating legislation anymore.
We’re defending our families, our livelihoods, our values and our way of life.
No wonder these conversations have become emotional.
Fear is easy to manufacture
Human beings are wired to recognize threats. That instinct helped our ancestors survive.
The problem is our brains don’t always distinguish between a physical danger and a political one.
If we’re constantly told the other side is coming for our rights, our children, our faith, our livelihood or our country, our bodies begin responding as though we’re under attack. We become suspicious. We stop listening. We quit asking questions because we’ve already decided who’s right and who’s wrong.
The conversation changes from “What’s the best solution?” to “Whose side are you on?”
Every one of us is susceptible to that.
That doesn’t mean every policy deserves equal respect. It doesn’t mean every idea is constitutional or every politician is honest.
It simply means every one of us can be manipulated if someone learns how to push our emotional buttons.
Outrage has become a business model
It’s worth asking who benefits from keeping Americans angry.
Cable news wants viewers.
Political campaigns want donations.
Activist organizations want members.
Social media platforms want engagement.
Outrage drives all of them.
Calm conversations rarely go viral. Thoughtful compromise doesn’t generate clicks. Instead, we’re constantly shown the loudest voices, the most offensive comments and the most extreme examples from the other side.
After a while, we begin believing those voices represent millions of Americans.
They don’t.
Most Americans are getting up, going to work, raising children, paying bills, volunteering in their churches and communities and trying to build good lives. They aren’t spending every waking hour fighting strangers on the internet.
But ordinary people don’t drive algorithms.
Anger does.
Fear does.
Conflict does.
The result is a cycle that rewards division while convincing us the country is more fractured than it really is.
Principles and people
None of this means we should abandon our convictions.
I won’t.
The Constitution isn’t negotiable.
Our rights aren’t negotiable.
Government should always be questioned.
Power should always be challenged.
When elected officials lie, they should be called out. When government exceeds its constitutional authority, citizens should push back. Those principles don’t change because our preferred candidate wins an election.
Neither should our standards.
If we excuse behavior from our own side that we’d condemn in the other, we’re no longer standing on principle.
We’re standing on loyalty.
Those aren’t the same thing.
At the same time, understanding why someone believes something isn’t the same as agreeing with them.
Listening isn’t surrender.
Respect isn’t weakness.
You can firmly believe someone is wrong while recognizing they’re still your fellow American.
I’ve met people across Colorado whose politics differ dramatically from mine. We disagree on important issues, and we probably always will.
But they love their families. They work hard. They volunteer. They care about their communities. They sincerely believe they’re doing what’s best for this country.
I don’t have to agree with them to recognize that.
We still have to live together
America is never going to agree on everything.
Honestly, I wouldn’t want it to.
Free people argue. That’s one of the blessings of living in a constitutional republic. The Founders didn’t design our system because they expected unanimous agreement. They designed it because they knew disagreement was inevitable.
The question isn’t whether we’ll disagree.
The question is whether we’ll allow disagreement to destroy our ability to live together.
Can we defend what we believe without deciding everyone who disagrees is the enemy?
Can we lose an election without believing the country is finished?
Can we win an election without trying to punish those who voted differently?
Can we hold our own side accountable when it falls short of the principles we claim to defend?
Those questions matter far more than whichever party wins the next campaign.
Most Americans want many of the same basic things: safe communities, meaningful work, honest government, opportunities for their children and the freedom to build a good life.
We disagree about how to get there.
Sometimes those disagreements are profound and worth fighting for.
But when the campaign signs come down, we’re still shopping in the same grocery stores, attending the same churches, coaching the same Little League teams and living in the same communities.
We don’t have to agree.
We don’t have to vote the same.
We don’t even have to like one another’s politics.
But if we ever lose the ability to see our fellow Americans as neighbors instead of enemies, no political victory will be enough to put the country back together.
Sean M. Pond is a Montrose County Commissioner for District 3, a U.S. Navy veteran who served in the Persian Gulf including during Operation Desert Shield, and a fifth generation Colorado native. He has stood on stages across the state defending constitutional freedoms, protecting rural Colorado, and fighting back against government overreach.
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.